Alexandra was made of sterner stuff

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and the son and heir of Queen Victoria was a notorious rake. His parents recognized this when he was very young and arranged a marriage hoping to keep him from getting into further trouble. The wife chosen for him was the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel.  Her other siblings were George (George I of Greece), Dagmar (later Empress of all the Russias via her marriage to Czar Alexander III, Thyra (Crown Princess of Hanover) and Prince Valdemar of Denmark.

Alexandra Caroline Mary Charlotte Louisa Julia of Denmark was born in Copenhagen on December 1, 1844 at 6:15 in the morning. Her rising symbol t 18 Scorpio 57 worked well for her: “fasting pilgrims outside the castle of the king” as she and Edward spent much of their lives apart — her in Sandringham with her children and retinue and he in London with his ladies.

On March 10, 1863 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Edward and Alexandra were married, her wearing a magnificent gown by Worth of Paris (see the photo above). Duty bound, despite their personal differences, the couple had six children including Prince Albert Victor.

While Queen Victoria chose the day, a month after her own to Albert, calendar wise, the chart was perfect for the bride. Notice the red arrow where her new Ascendant of 28 Cancer 44 is conjunct her natal Part of Fortune in the 8th house as her maidenhood ends, and a new life as queen begins.

Her Nodes surprisingly stay the same at Gemini 11 [HS a baptism the process of beginning something momentous, a sacred induction]. Her NMC is now opposite her Transitting Sun supporting again the major rite of passage she was undertaking as her TPart of Fortune is conjunct her natal Uranus in the 4th — her wishes have become true but alas (though oob) with a wrinkle — her husband will never be true (Mars as the T-Cross leg on the 7th house cusp). But Alexandra already knew that.

Edwards peccadilloes

From the top left are Daisy Greville, Lilly Langtry, and Jennie Jerome. The bottom two portraits are of Agnes Keyser, and Alice Keppel.

Throughout their marriage, Edward had several well known mistresses —  the actress Daisy Greville, herself the descendant of two of England’s King’s paramours and for whom it is thought Daisy of The Great Gatsby was named ; Lily Langtry the actress, Agnes Keyser, the only unmarried woman during their affair, American Jennie Jerome the future mother of Winston Churchill and whom Alexandra was the most fond.

The most famous of all was Alice Keppel, the great grandmother of the current Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, and it was said was a major reason that Queen Elizabeth II objected to her son’s liason’s to her despite Camilla’s agreement to convert to the Church of England to marry the Prince.

Despite her well known possessiveness, Queen Alexandra allowed Mrs. Keppel to visit King Edward VII on his deathbed.

She had a scar (Saturn 03 Aquarius 17 in the 2nd, Taurus rules the neck) and wore high necked gowns or jeweled necklaces similar to her portrait above. On Edward’s coronation day she wore the gorgeous Dagmar necklace, especially made for the occasion (see the closeup below). She died at Sandringham House on November 20, 1925 from a heart attack and was buried in Windsor next to Edward, having outlived him by 15 years.